In part 2 of our ‘A Look Back at 2025’ series, we reflect on an incredible year for off-road disciplines at home and internationally.
2025 was another huge year the Irish off-road community. The year was no doubt highlighted by Ireland’s first ever Downhill World Championship podium when Wicklow’s Ronan Dunne took Bronze in Switzerland.
Mountain biking - On the International Stage
This year’s World Championships in Switzerland saw Irish riders take part in the Enduro, Cross-Country and Downhill disciplines.
Kelan Grant and Greg Callaghan rode in green in the Enduro event. The event had a late change to scheduling, with inclement weather resulting in the highest altitude stage being pushed forward to the practice day. Grant ultimately saw his competition end early, having headed into the main day of racing sitting 22nd, a major crash and broken vertebrae left him with a DNF. Callaghan headed into the main day of racing in 20th, and took 26th overall after six stages.
Three XC riders headed to Switzerland to take on the Olympic Distance events. Chris Dawson took to the start line of the Men’s Elite race, where he fought tough conditions to take a 66th position finish. Juniors Greta Lawless and Ryan Daly also made the journey, where Lawless took 37th and Daly 82nd.
Lawless also had a strong showing at the European Championships in Portugal, battling tough heat and major talent in the Junior Women's Olympic Distance to take 28th. Chris Dawson, having taken a podium at the same venue in a UCI level race earlier in the season, took 40th in the Elite Men's race, while Ryan Daly took 71st in a stacked Junior Men's field.
On the downhill front, Juniors Alex Hickey and Darragh Ryan represented Ireland, with both battling incredibly tough conditions and narrowly missing out on qualification for the finals.
Ronan Dunne, Oisín O’Callaghan, Henry Kerr and Jacob Dickson rode for Ireland in the Elite category. Dunne took the Men’s Elite Bronze medal in a thrilling ride, finishing behind Canada’s Goldstone in first place. His qualifying ride awarded him P4, giving him a good platform for the final. Dunne’s podium is the first ever Downhill World Championship podium for an Irish rider.
Oisín O’Callaghan and Henry Kerr qualified well, coming out 30th and 56th respectively. The Final saw them finishing close together, with O’Callaghan coming in 33rd, and Kerr finishing in 30th. Jacob Dickson missed out on qualification, coming 93rd after a crash interrupted his qualifying run.
Away from World Championship action, the Elite Downhill riders had another strong year. Oisin O’Callaghan and Ronan Dunne finished eighth and ninth respectively in the overall UCI Mountain Bike World Series standings, with O’Callaghan taking third in Biesko-Biala and Dunne taking a win in Les Gets. Dunne’s return to the top step was made even more impressive when taking into account the injuries sustained in a crash at RedBull Hardline Tasmania. Jacob Dickson claimed 45th overall, while Henry Kerr finished 60th overall after a season hampered by injury.
In the Junior ranks Darragh Ryan joined Orbea FMD racing, but a crash and injury early on derailed the majority of his season. A change to UCI regulations saw the governing body enter junior riders not entered by trade teams. This allowed several riders to make their World Series debuts and gain valuable international experience. Ros O’Keefe, Kyle Murray, Ben Fitzsimon, Felim Coffey, Caolan Sammon, Simone O’Kelly, Aaron Meredith, Oscar Durston, Alex Hickey and Reuben Pekaar all rode World Series events in Ireland jerseys this year.
Greg Callaghan claimed a podium early on in the Enduro World Series, with a third place in Poland, and finished the year seventh in the overall standings. Kelan Grant’s injury dampened season saw him finish 65th in the overall standings.
Mountain biking – Domestic
Ireland’s off-road scene has continued to go from strength to strength in recent years, and this year was no different, with Downhill and Enduro events regularly selling out within minutes of entries opening.
This year’s Downhill National Series took in rounds at Carrick, The GAP, and two rounds at Bree with Ravensdale unrideable due to storm damage. Each round delivered unbelievable racing, while Round 1 in Carrick took no prisoners, and saw World Cup winners O’Callaghan and Dunne line up against top domestic talent.
Limerick MBC took on National Championship hosting duties in Ballyhoura, where local Oisin O’Callaghan successfully defended his Elite title. Blaithin Sweeny and Fionn O’Neill took their first National Championship titles in the Women and Junior Men categories respectively.
The GAP Winter League is in full flow once again, keeping downhill racing going through the darker months.
On the Enduro front, the Gravity Enduro and Grassroots Enduro series provided a fantastic geographic spread, with the Grassroots round in Bree taking chunks out of multiple Cycling Ireland staff members. These events again sold out in minutes, and the work put in by clubs, organisers and volunteers continues to provide top level racing across the island of Ireland.
Clonmel MBC hosted the 2025 Enduro National Championships, where Greg Callaghan bagged another National Championship title, just 0.05 seconds ahead of second place Kelan Grant, while Brendan Conroy took third. Hannah Mullin took top spot in the Women’s category ahead of Maeve Baxter and downhill champ Blaithin Sweeny in third.
The National Points Series saw cross-country riders take on five races, hosted by Team WORC, Fermoy, Banbridge, Clonmel and Biking.ie, with the last round featuring as part of the Wicklow Mountain Bike Festival.
David Montgomery and Joanna Bula saw their consistent performances across the year pay off as they took top spot in the Senior 1 Open and Women’s categories respectively.
Montgomery was beaten in National Championship action however, as defending champion Chris Dawson again took the top spot in rough conditions in Cork. Caoimhe May took another national title when she won the women’s race at the MBCC hosted event.
Adaptive MTB
2025 saw the inaugural Adaptive MTB Race take place at the Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Festival. Run in conjunction with Biking.ie and the Biking Blitz, Project Mjolnir founder Noel Joyce and Coillte, the event saw several wheelchair users take to the trails and get between the tape for the first time on Irish soil.
The adaptive MTB project initially started in late 2024 when Project Mjolnir teamed up with the Cycling Ireland Participation Department to use Dormant Account Funding to build several of the adaptive bikes designed by Noel Joyce. These bikes were then distributed to trail centres across the country, making the outdoors and mountain biking accessible to wheelchair users.
Away from racing
This year has also proven significant for the off-road community away from racing. Cycling Ireland and Coillte reached a landmark agreement, which will see affiliated clubs engage with local Coillte forest managers to facilitate the building of even more trails across the country on a pilot programme. This agreement not only benefits mountain bikers; significant progress has been made in enabling Gravel Cycling events on Coillte’s forest road network. Building on our existing collaboration—where Coillte facilitates licensed mountain bike events—Coillte and Cycling Ireland will pilot a series of Gravel Cycling events over the next two years.
Gravel
This year’s Gravel National Championships headed West, as Gaeltacht CC hosted in Co. Galway. Jamie Meehan, fresh from signing with road World Tour Team Cofidis took top spot in the Elite race, while Gabrielle Fox claimed her first National Championship in the Women’s Category.
Fox went on to represent Ireland at the Gravel World Championships in Zuid-Limburg. The event saw Nicholas Roche take the coveted rainbow jersey for the 40-44 age category. Ireland had 10 representatives at the event across Elite and masters categories.
2026 will see a reinvigorated Gravel calendar, with announcements to be made in the new year.
Cyclo-cross
January saw the culmination of the CX season as the National Championships took place in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. The town centre course made for a brilliant spectacle. Conor Murphy succeeded in defending his Junior National Championship, of which he’d take two more on the road in 2025, while Dean Harvey defended the senior title, and Esther Wong took her first national champs jersey.
Murphy and Wong went on to represent Ireland at the World Championships in February, along with Ryan Daly and Curtis McKee.
With three of four rounds of this season’s CX National Series already in the books, eyes now turn to the final round in Galway on January 4th, followed by the crowning of our first 2026 national champions in Cavan on January 11th.
A massive thank you must be extended to all the organisers, volunteers and riders for their efforts this year, and here’s to an even bigger 2026.